The Chess Players
Director: Satyajit Ray
Year Released: 1977
Rating: 2.0
Rather simplistic depiction of British colonialism and the nation of India, told in parallel storylines: the one has British General Outram (Richard Attenborough, smoking like Hemingway) conspiring to depose indulgent ruler Wazed Ali Shah, the other has two noblemen busy worrying about finding a nice, quiet place to play chess instead of caring about their people, the government or their wives. The symbolism of all this should be obvious to most, and the comical bumbling of the two chess obsessives gets repetitive and therefore tiresome. Everyone's at fault to some degree, Ray says, although this conclusion is hardly a revelation.
